The present invention is directed to an abrasive resistant garment that would typically be worn by motorcyclists as a form of protection against abrasion in the event of an accident. Other forms of protective clothing exist to help motorcyclists protect themselves from abrasion in the event of an accident or fall. These include leather apparel. Thick leather garments are effective in guarding against abrasion. But leather garments are heavy and do not provide any air flow between the user's skin and the exterior. Thus, it is uncomfortable for a motorcyclist to wear thick leather garments for any length of time or during warmer weather.
There are alternative materials that are presently used by motorcyclists to prevent abrasion. These include man-made materials that are made into garments. Materials including ballistic nylon, CORDURA®, GORE-TEX® and KEVLAR® have been incorporated into cloth garments to increase the resistance of such garments. A material such as CORDURA®, a high strength-to-weight ratio fabric that is flat/textured, light weight/heavy weight, and/or nylon/polyester based, is a man-made fabric often made into garments. A material, such as GORE-TEX®, a multi-layer high performance abrasion resistant and breathable fabric, is often made into garments. A material, such as KEVLAR®, a light, strong para-amide synthetic fiber, is often made into protective garments. However, as a weave of different materials, they require a significant thickness in order to be effective against abrasion. Moreover, some weaves are not as effective where they are combined with natural materials that provide little or no abrasion resistance.
There have been other improvements in the area of safety garments for preventing abrasion. One such patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,319) is directed to an abrasive resistant fabric. The fabric is made of high performance fiber, such as KEVLAR®, terried on the face side of a fabric at certain locations within a garment to provide abrasion resistance at those locations. For example, the abrasive resistant fabric is woven into areas in a garment to protect the knees and lower torso on a pair of pants, and at the elbows and shoulders on a jacket. While this type of 25 garment is effective in resisting abrasion, it is heavy and is not conducive to wearing in warmer weather. This patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In addition, another problem with some abrasive resistant safety garments is that some tend to shift during an accident which may result in the protected areas moving and exposing skin to the street surface. This could result in serious abrasions on a substantial portion of the user's skin that the garment was intended to protect. Thus, it is important that during a fall from a motorcycle, any abrasion resistant garment must not shift and remain substantially in place to protect the areas designed to be protected. One way to achieve such a goal is to ensure that the garment is adjacent to the skin and that the area to be protected is sufficiently surrounded by abrasion resistant material during an accident. Moreover, a garment may be designed to prevent movement during a fall.
Some undergarments provide the ability to cover a significant amount of the wearer's skin effectively. In particular, long underwear covers a considerable amount of the user's skin while not shifting in any significant fashion. At present, there is no undergarment that is light weight and breathable that is also effective at abrasion resistance.
Thus, there is a need for an undergarment that can be comfortably worn, yet provide effective abrasion resistance.
There is a further need to provide a light weight undergarment that effectively resists abrasion.
There is still a further need to provide a breathable undergarment that is also abrasion resistant.
There is yet a further need to provide an undergarment that may be comfortably worn by the user and will not significantly shift during a fall from a motorcycle.
There is yet a further need to provide an undergarment that provides effective abrasion resistance to certain areas of the body most susceptible to abrasion during a fall or accident.